October 28, 2015
Education Week, Vol. 35, Issue 10
College & Workforce Readiness
Minneapolis' Anti-Bias Efforts Focus on Black Males
Michael V. Walker's job has a singular purpose: keeping the school system's black male students on a positive academic track.
Families & the Community
Schools Enlist Parents to Bridge Cultural Barriers
Newer efforts to bring families of minority students into the classroom are eye-opening for both parents and teachers.
Equity & Diversity
Classroom Biases Hinder Students' Learning
Subtle, everyday biases in the nation's classrooms pose major obstacles to academic success for low-income students and students of color.
Assessment
Schools Seek to Diversify Gifted, Honors Classes
Gifted and honors classes are often dominated by white students from well-off families, but some districts are removing the barriers that keep out low-income students and students of color.
College & Workforce Readiness
The Adolescent Brain Subject of Long-Term Federal Study
The National Institutes of Health will dedicate $300 million over the next decade to launch the largest, most comprehensive study to date of how children’s brains develop during adolescence.
Special Education
Oak Foundation Aims to Aid Those With 'Learning Differences'
A Geneva-based philanthropy has invested more than $28 million in the past six years to help children, adolescents, and adults with learning impairments that haven't been formally diagnosed.
College & Workforce Readiness
Signs Point to Rise in High School Graduation Rates
The U.S. Department of Education is encouraged by preliminary state-by-state data showing that graduation rates for the 2013-14 school year were up from the year before.
School & District Management
Opinion
Do Military Recruiters Belong in Schools?
Military recruiters often fly below the radar at many high schools, and two researchers suggest that's a problem.
!["It will allow [school officials] to have private conversations where they can be honest and productive." —Mark Cuban, Founder, Cyber Dust; Owner of NBA's Dallas Mavericks.](https://epe.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/cdb6858/2147483647/strip/true/crop/589x400+5+0/resize/840x570!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fepe-brightspot.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2F31%2F95%2F7500d2c266d7f205dd960c6f1073%2F10-ephemeral-mark-cuban-600.jpg)
School & District Management
Snapchat and Disappearing-Message Apps Vex Schools
A recent controversy in California's Fresno Unified district involving Cyber Dust, founded by billionaire Mark Cuban, highlights the new challenges.
Every Student Succeeds Act
School Choice Backers Lukewarm on Provision in ESEA Rewrite
The House of Representatives would let states' Title I aid follow disadvantaged students to the public schools of their choice, but the portability rule doesn't go far enough for some.
Equity & Diversity
Lessons Sought on Serving Native American Students
State schools chiefs are looking to Montana for help in addressing the academic and community needs of one of the nation’s most disadvantaged populations.
Every Student Succeeds Act
Programs' Fate Complicates Path to ESEA Deal
The House and Senate bills to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act take very different tacks on the future of certain federal education programs.
Standards & Accountability
Opinion
We Aren't Using Assessments Correctly
Testing data should be used as a tool to enhance instruction and learning for teachers and students, writes John Hattie.
Social Studies
Opinion
What the New AP U.S. History Framework Gets Right
The much-revised 2015 AP U.S. history framework drops the moralizing in favor of historical context, writes Jeremy A. Stern.
Equity & Diversity
Video: A Lesson in Humanity From Children's Holocaust Diaries
Alexandra Zapruder, author of the book Salvaged Pages: Young Writers' Diaries of the Holocaust, discusses how children's accounts of the genocide during WWII serve as a powerful reminder of the dehumanizing effects of racism, bias, and prejudice.
School & District Management
Letter to the Editor
The '#62MillionGirls' Push Is Relevant Here in the United States, Too
To the Editor:
I was inspired to respond to your article "Michelle Obama to Tap U.S. Students in Equity Campaign for Girls." I have been following first lady Michelle Obama's work, and earlier this month she announced a global campaign for girls' education that is called #62MillionGirls.
I was inspired to respond to your article "Michelle Obama to Tap U.S. Students in Equity Campaign for Girls." I have been following first lady Michelle Obama's work, and earlier this month she announced a global campaign for girls' education that is called #62MillionGirls.
School Climate & Safety
Letter to the Editor
Poverty Continues to Harm Students After Early Ed. Intervention Ends
To the Editor:
Your recent article "Study Casts Fresh Doubts on Durability of Pre-K Gains" on a new study of Tennessee prekindergarten results raises many of the same issues that have plagued Head Start.
Your recent article "Study Casts Fresh Doubts on Durability of Pre-K Gains" on a new study of Tennessee prekindergarten results raises many of the same issues that have plagued Head Start.
Education
Correction
Correction
An article in the Oct. 21, 2015, issue of Education Week about financial literacy mischaracterized the number of states given C's and D's on a report card. It should have said a majority of states received B's and C's on the report card.
Education
News in Brief
Transitions
Randy Dorn, the schools superintendent in Washington state, announced last week that he will not seek a third term in office.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
Few States Require Rigorous Courses for Graduation
High school graduation rates in the United States have hit historic highs, with the most recent numbers from the U.S. Department of Education showing that more than 80 percent of students from the class of 2013 graduated on time.
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
Student Mobility
For a teenager, moving—even if it's to a higher-income neighborhood—is linked to a decrease in the likelihood of graduating from high school, an analysis has found.
Law & Courts
Report Roundup
Migrant Students
The tens of thousands of unaccompanied school-age children and youths who crossed the U.S.-Mexican border in the spring and summer of 2014 had vastly different educational experiences depending on where they settled, according to a report.
School & District Management
Report Roundup
Young Adolescents
Community groups and sports not connected to school can help students stay more connected academically during a critical transition period, a study of low-income students in New York City suggests.
Professional Development
Report Roundup
Digital Badges
Digital badges are being widely adopted for students, but could the same principle be applied to professional development for teachers?
College & Workforce Readiness
Report Roundup
Rural Schools
Students in the nation's rural high schools are less likely to have access to and take rigorous courses than their nonrural peers, according to a report.
Teaching Profession
News in Brief
Number of Teachers' Strikes in 2015 Keeps Pace With Other Years'
Even though it seems like an unusually high number of teachers' strikes occurred this school year, an Education Week Teacher analysis of strikes over the past six years shows that their pace hasn't increased or decreased significantly.
School Climate & Safety
News in Brief
Superintendent Accused of Breaking Into Home
Police in Massachusetts are seeking to criminally charge the superintendent of a Cape Cod school district who's accused of barging into a student's home uninvited to see if she actually lived there.
School & District Management
News in Brief
Election Results Delayed Over Lack of Diversity
A student-government election at a mostly Hispanic San Francisco middle school turned into a debate about the democratic process when the principal delayed the results because the winners did not reflect the school's diverse student body.